Different kinds of devices and robots for assisting in feeding patients or the elderly and infirm have come onto the market, and a lot of researches are in progress.
Particularly, a representative example of this technology was proposed in US Patent No. US2009/0104004, entitled “Self-feeding apparatus”, which was applied on May 26, 2006 and published last year. As shown in FIG. 1, this conventional technique includes a support base, a food container, a spoon which is used to scoop food, and a mechanical unit which transfers the spoon to the mount of a user. This apparatus is configured such that the position of the spoon can be adjusted depending on the location of the mouth of the user. According to an input signal of the user, the apparatus repeats the operation of scooping food placed on a plate using the spoon and transferring it to a position adjacent to the mouth of the user.
However, in this apparatus, if food includes steamed rice which is sticky and a variety of side dishes, it is difficult to handle the food only using the operation of scooping it from the plate. Despite needs of the user such as a patient to have different kinds of foods, the user must have food contained on only the single plate.